


hello stranger

by meowlino (junwtfhoe)



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Boo Seungkwan is adorable, Boo Seungkwan is annoyed, Chwe Hansol just wants his drink, Cute Ending, Hugging, Lowercase, Lying on each other's heads, M/M, apartment fluff as always, idk i luv verkwan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:13:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25731904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junwtfhoe/pseuds/meowlino
Summary: the probability of a barista messing up your order was low but never zero. sometimes a mistake could be the start to a beautiful meet-cute incident between two struggling university students.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	hello stranger

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i am back with another fic but this time it's a seventeen fic! tbh i've been only stanning seventeen for idk... months? i recall deciding to stan svt after the release of the my my mv. so, a new group means new ships and new ships means new fics and new fics means i am back to writing! it's not the best but i am proudly saying that here is my verkwan fic! i wanna shoutout to all my new carat oomfs on twt and most importantly *drumrolls* aliah! for being such a great supporter of my writing since the days of my ikon fics! anyway, im doing too much talking here, let's get onto the fic!

a bell rings as hansol pushes open the glass door of his favourite café. hansol stands in awe as he takes in the sight of people; the café is nearly filled with customers, most of the seats already taken by groups of people.

the sight wasn’t familiar to him; he frequented the café during odd hours where his friend mingyu, a year above him in university, was on duty and on those times, it was always him and only a few students from their university with laptops right in front of them. hansol always made fun of the café for having such little number of customers, and in the café’s defense, mingyu always replied to him with, ‘that’s because you only come here during afterhours. you should see this place in the morning or afternoon. it’s packing with people!’

mingyu was true. the café was packed.

making his way to the counter, hansol gets in line and waits for his turn. it did not take him long because in about a minute, hansol is already in front of the counter.

“hello sir, what may i take your order?” a barista asks, giving hansol a corporate smile.

“yeah, i’m in the mood for something sweet so can i get a large mocha frappucino?” hansol pauses as he looks at the menu once again, and continues, “with extra whipping cream please.”

“is that all? do you wish to add any other orders, sir?”

“no, that’s all.” hansol shakes his head and answers.

“card or cash?”

“cash.” hansol says. quickly paying for his drink, hansol continues standing there, waiting for the barista to return his change.

“may i get your name sir?” the barista asks.

“it’s hansol.” he continues standing there, waiting for the barista to finally say thank you and excuse him. as soon as they do so, hansol flees to one of the seats by the window.

‘is it just me? or is getting my order taking too damn long today?’ hansol thinks to himself. ‘maybe it was the amount of people here. maybe they made me feel like i was taking so much time.’

shrugging at the thought, hansol stares out the window, observing strangers going on with their own lives. turning to the sound of the bell atop the glass door ringing, hansol finds his eyes fixed onto the beautiful stranger annoyedly picking up his jacket from the floor. noting how the apple of the stranger’s cheeks rise as he smiles awkwardly at the person he had nearly collided with, hansol smiles, feeling some kind of endearment to the stranger. the person in question turns and briefly locks eyes with hansol. panicking, hansol looks away, quickly pulliing out his phone to busy himself. looking at the clock on his phone that shows it is 6 pm, hansol sighs because he would have to wait for 2 hours until mingyu came back from his own classes. trying to pass time, hansol scrolls through his social media.

“hansol!”

hansol hears his name being uttered by one of the baristas. leaving his belongings unattended, hansol scurries to the counter and how confused was he to see a large and plain americano sitting atop the counter. what puzzles him more was the name on the drink; it was his. he did not recall ordering an americano, he remembers perfectly that he had ordered a large mocha frappuccino with extra whipping cream.

“excuse me-“ hansol tries to call for the barista, yet he was only responded with a polite smile and a nod, the look in their eyes showing that they are sorry because they could not attend to hansol’s needs. glancing at his belongings, hansol lets out a sigh of relief as it is still undisturbed. trying to talk to the barista, hansol gestures at the drink and says, “excuse me, this is not what i ordered.”

to hansol’s despair, the baristas could only give polite bows, one of them even said, “we will attend to you quickly, sir. please be patient.”

looking at the americano on the counter, hansol shrugs and picks up the drink, thinking, ‘maybe i should just take this and go- ‘

“seungkwan!” a barista calls out. to hansol’s surprise, it was the beautiful stranger he had been eyeing, never would he have thought that he would stand this close to this person.

“thank you,” the stranger mumbles. soon his eyebrows furrow, evidently showing confusion in the stranger’s face. was it his drink? hansol could not see the stranger’s drink as it was put at the other end of the counter, his line of sight obscured by the presence of the pastry display, but he had a feeling that the stranger got a different drink from what he initially ordered.

“excuse me, this is not what i ordered. i ordered an americano, not frappucino.” the stranger, seungkwan, adjusts his glasses as he stated as-a-matter-of-factly and picks up the drink, showing it to the barista that is now attending him. hansol is still staring at seungkwan when he notices that seungkwan’s drink is the drink that he was supposed to be having, glimpsing the drink when the stranger lifts it up.

“oh, i’m so sorry. we will replace your drink as soon as possible, sir.” the barista apologetically says. turning to hansol, the barista repeats the latter sentence to him too.

giving the barista a nod, hansol then turns to seungkwan, wanting to observe him yet the latter shocks him when he sees seungkwan looking back at him.

“do i know you?” seungkwan asks, tilting his head. his tone is nowhere near menacing, instead his voice filled with curiosity.

“uh, i don’t think so,” hansol replies, smiling awkwardly. “and i don’t think i know you either.”

“ah, i thought we might know each other because i noticed that you were looking at me the moment i entered.” seungkwan, in turn, retorts with an awkward smile resembling hansol’s.

‘chwe hansol, can you not be more obvious?’ hansol thinks as he internally curses himself.

“it was… it was the jacket! yeah, i like your jacket.” hansol blurts out whatever he could think of, further feeling embarrassed from the exchange of speeches.

“thank you,” seungkwan smiles, bowing politely to show gratitude. “i got it on a sale and i really felt like i won the lottery.”

“it’s a good jacket.” hansol shrugs, still smiling at seungkwan.

the two stand there, waiting for the baristas to attend to them, then an idea then dawns on hansol. looking at seungkwan, hansol says, “excuse me, have you drunk that?”

“no,” seungkwan shakes his head, “why do you ask?”

“i ordered a mocha frappucino and what i got was an americano.” hansol lifts the drink for seungkwan to see. he then proposes his idea, “maybe, we can switch the drinks?”

“oh,” seungkwan pauses to think for a second, “you haven’t drunk that?”

“yeah,” hansol replies. “let’s not care for the names on the cup, they don’t matter.”

“sure, thanks.”

handing seungkwan the drink and the unopened straw, hansol then receives his frappucino from the former. they inform the baristas of the situation, and quickly, the two return to their respective seats. hansol watches seungkwan leave the café in a hurry and sighs, drinking the frappucino he finally acquired after the confusion. laying his head on the table, hansol stares at the name on his drink.

“seungkwan,” hansol mutters, raising his hand from under the table, his finger then pattering gently on the wet surface of the cup. “boo seungkwan. what an interesting name.”

**_ 6.36 pm _ **

hansol punches the button to his floor on the elevator, bobbing his head to the music playing through his earphones and his hand holding the drink he had bought from the café. looking at the frappucino, suddenly, he is reminded by the incident in the café and hansol smiles in remembrance. the elevator dings, showing hansol that he has arrived on his floor. the doors slide open and hansol steps out of the elevator, still bobbing his head to the song.

humming to the song, hansol makes his way to the apartment he shared with mingyu; how shocked was he when hansol finds a familiar figure knocking his head onto a door, letting out sounds of agony. recognizing the jacket, hansol quickly looks at the pile of stuff beside the figure consisting of a black backpack, some books… and a half empty cup of americano that had hansol’s name on it? hansol was not mistaken, this _is_ seungkwan.

pulling the earphones off his ears, hansol blinks, listening to the sighs of person who unmistakably is seungkwan.

“seungkwan?” hansol calls out as he shoves the earphones into his jean pockets, trying to suppress his smile. oh, how funny fate was. the last person hansol expected to be standing in front of him in the apartment complex he lived at was seungkwan. heck, hansol did not even think of the possibility of meeting seungkwan for the second time.

“huh?” seungkwan turns, and stares at hansol. blinking his eyes, seungkwan then tilts his head in confusion. stepping away from the door, seungkwan then takes his americano and scans the cup for hansol’s name. raising his gaze to meet hansol’s, seungkwan sighs then deadpans, “ah, you. from the café.”

“yeah, hi.” hansol smiles, raising his hand up to greet the stressed out seungkwan. “are you okay?”

staring at hansol, seungkwan sharply retorts, “hi, i guess you can’t see that i am struggling right now.”

chuckling awkwardly, hansol rubs the nape of his neck and shrugs, saying “oh, sorry. i actually can perfectly see that.”

still giving hansol looks of annoyance, seungkwan purses his lips and walks towards his backpack and squats in front of it. hansol asks, “what’s wrong?”

“i can’t find my keys. i’m tired and i really need to get inside and lie down on my bed. i really hate how badly lit this hallway is, and the sun is already setting so it’s awfully dark.” seungkwan gestures to the windows next to them as he speaks, his voice filled with annoyance. “i can’t see a thing in my bag, for fuck’s sake! i know we just met but can you help me shine a light so i can find my keys?”

“sure. sure, of course!” quickly, hansol takes out his phone and turns the flashlight on. standing close to seungkwan, hansol shines the light above seungkwan and illuminating the contents inside his bag.

“where’s your phone?” hansol asks.

“it died.” seungkwan sighs again, briefly looking up at hansol only to be blinded by the light above him. quickly, seungkwan closes his eyes and turns away from the bright light. blinking to restore his sight, seungkwan says, “i forgot to charge my phone today. to top it off, i forgot my charger.”

‘he’s cute, and clumsy,’ hansol thinks. ‘i want to protect him.’

“that must have been shitty,” hansol grimaces, “i mean, we need our phones on a daily basis in this era.”

“exactly!” seungkwan exclaims, suddenly pulling out all the books from inside his bag. “a lecturer called my phone today and i couldn’t even pick up because it died! the very moment i tried to swipe that green button, it died!”

“hell,” hansol says, relating to the emotional pain seungkwan was feeling. “fuck, that must have been urgent.”

“yeah, i ran to the lecturer’s room after that.” seungkwan shrugged, then he sighed. “there have been better days.”

realising the fact that the apartment complex was prepared specifically for non-residential students at his university, hansol then asked seungkwan, “wait, seungkwan. i never realized you lived here, and this apartment is only for the students of my uni. do we go to the same university?”

raising his hand to cover his eyes from the light of hansol’s phone, seungkwan gives him a look. quickly returning to searching for his keys, seungkwan says, “well duh, of course i guess.”

“i’ll take that as a yes.” hansol mumbles.

suddenly, seungkwan stops searching for his keys, and defeatedly he says, “fuck, i think i forgot my keys.”

once again trying to shield his eyes from the bright light of hansol’s phone, seungkwan looks at him, a hopeless look evident in his eyes. laughing, seungkwan lets his derriere touch the floor and says, “i really forgot my keys. i guess today really is not my day.”

feeling the dejection surrounding seungkwan, hansol puts his phone down and squats in front of seungkwan and says, “don’t worry, i still have my keys. you can rest in my apartment.”

trying to reassure seungkwan, hansol smiles and mumbles to him that it will all be okay. smiling wistfully, seungkwan looks into hansol’s eyes, slightly illuminated by the orange light spilling into the building through the windows.

“sorry. i had been snarky when you genuinely tried to help me.” seungkwan says, the regret apparent in his voice. “i’m sorry you had to meet me in this state.”

“no!” hansol says, shaking his head, “you had a stressful day, i understand how bad it must have been. just sit down and i’ll find my keys. in a second, we’ll be inside, and we’ll be comfortable.”

seungkwan nods and sighs again. he then says, “here, let me hold your phone. i’ll hold the light as you find your keys.”

“it’s okay, i know exactly where my keys are.”

taking the backpack off his shoulders, hansol places it on the floor and unzips a compartment. inserting his hand into it, hansol grabs around until he hears touches the familiar chill of the metal. confused that he could not feel or hear the clink of the keys, hansol desperately unzips the other compartments of his bag and rummages around for his keys.

“don’t tell me- “seungkwan says, only to be hushed by hansol.

“shush,” hansol raises his head quickly, his eyes widened. “i will find the keys.”

handing seungkwan his phone, hansol asks seungkwan to hold the light above him as he searches for his keys. after a few minutes of searching, hansol stares blankly at his bag and then looks at seungkwan, saying “i forgot my keys too…”

“i knew it,” seungkwan laughed, deeply in disbelief. “how are we supposed to get in now?”

“wait for our roommates?”

“it’s gonna take hours until my roommate comes back!”

seungkwan retreats to the wall, resting his back against it as he pulls his backpack into his arms, hugging it. hansol, in the other hand, sighs and sits next to seungkwan, lying his back against the wall. they stay silent for a moment, watching the buildings and streetlights next to their apartment complex brighten up one by one. the two sigh, accidentally coordinating their sighs together which cause them to laugh.

“why haven’t i seen you around?” hansol asks, turning his head to look at seungkwan as it’s still rested against the wall. seungkwan turns, causing hansol’s stomach to suddenly flip. they were close to each other, their shoulders almost touching; and hansol could feel the warmth of seungkwan’s body radiating off him.

“i don’t know,” seungkwan shrugs, creating friction between his and hansol’s arm. “i usually leave at 9 am and come back around 6 pm.”

“no wonder we never met, i leave at 8 am and come back at 5 pm.”

“how long have you stayed here?” seungkwan asks.

“since september,” hansol says, bringing the drink close to his lips and taking a sip from it. “you?”

glancing at hansol’s drink, seungkwan then says, “same. i’m a second year.”

“me too,” hansol puts the drink on the floor next to him and stares outside. “are you seokmin hyung’s roommate?”

“you know seokmin hyung?” seungkwan asks hansol to which he was responded with a nod. “yeah, we’re roommates.”

suddenly gesturing towards the door on his right next to hansol, seungkwan says, “wait, mingyu lives next door. are you mingyu hyung’s roommate? i know him because seokmin hyung and mingyu hyung are coursemates.”

“mm-hmm,” hansol hums in response. “i’ve been mingyu hyung’s roommate since september. hey, enough about the hyungs. i think we should properly introduce ourselves to each other since we’re neighbours.”

hearing hansol, seungkwan blinks and smiles, extending his hand to indicate the gesture of hand-shaking and says, “fine. i’m boo seungkwan, musical theatre major, and proudly i’m representing jeju island although i was born in busan.”

“hmm, boo seungkwan.” hansol mumbles as if it was the first time he said the name. taking seungkwan's hand, hansol then replies, “i’m vernon chwe, born in new york but i moved to korea when i was little. my korean name is chwe hansol and i hate bugs. dance major.”

“how come we’re in the same faculty but we never see each other?” seungkwan releases hansol’s hand as he questions, his eyebrows furrowing.

“well, we are in different blocks- “

“the blocks are close, and we could have crossed paths or something.” seungkwan mumbles, pouting his lips.

“it’s funny that we’re both have mutual friends, live in the same apartment complex, are in the same faculty, and we never met.” hansol laughs, turning to seungkwan who was now sitting still, his eyelids fluttering close.

“seungkwan?” hansol calls out, jolting seungkwan awake. “are you sleepy?”

“i’m sorry,” seungkwan mumbles, his voice slurred from the drowsiness. “i’m too tired, i need sleep.”

scooting closer to seungkwan, hansol offers his shoulder and says, “seungkwan, if you’re too sleepy, you can rest your head on my shoulder. your neck will hurt.”

“no- “

“i insist.”

yawning, seungkwan mumbles, “fine, if you say so.”

easing his head onto hansol’s shoulder, seungkwan mumbles, “today was such a shitty day. i can’t believe so much happened in a span of hours. i feel so drained. thanks, hansol. at least i didn’t have to go the last moments of today dreading this situation alone.”

in a split second, the hallway was filled with the sound of seungkwan’s breathing, signing that he was asleep. hansol freezes, then he nervously laughs. to have the stranger hansol had his eyes on earlier now laying their head against his shoulder… drowsily conversing with him, hansol feels an emotion, indescribable. it could be happiness, or anticipation, or pure warmth, or even a mix of all those.

softly gazing at seungkwan, hansol mutters, “better together than alone.”

feeling drowsiness taking over himself, hansol yawns. without realising it, sleep engulfs hansol’s whole body and his head lands atop seungkwan’s, his eyes fluttering close.

**_ 8.21 pm _ **

two voices conversing could be heard as two culinary students, mingyu and seokmin, make their way to their shared apartments. oh, how shocked they were when they are greeted by the sight of their respective roommates deep in slumber resting their backs against the wall in between their apartment doors, their heads against each other.

crouching down, mingyu wakes both seungkwan and hansol up, asking them, “what were you two doing here?”

“mm? mingyu hyung?” seungkwan, the first to wake up, asks. still conquered by drowsiness, seungkwan slurred his words, “we forgot our keys.”

“goddamn, both of you?” seokmin lets out a laugh of disbelief.

“yeah,” hansol answers, now wide awake.

getting up, both hansol and seungkwan gather their belongings and sleepily look at each other, sharing smiles of secrecy as to what happened in the café earlier. with the presence of mingyu and seokmin, the respective doors of each the apartments were unlocked immediately.

“bye hansol, thanks for what you did earlier.”

“no problem. see you around, seungkwan.”

both hansol and seungkwan linger, reluctant to enter their apartments which means they will leave each other.

“you know what, fuck it.” hansol says, throwing all reason out the window and strides to seungkwan, wrapping his arms around him. seungkwan freezes, but slowly he eases his cheek against hansol’s neck and in turn, engulfs hansol inside his arms.

“sorry and thank you.” seungkwan mumbles, which garnered a stroke on his head from hansol.

“like i said, no problem.” hansol answers, encircling his arms tighter around seungkwan. “you can rely on me. i don’t know if you heard this earlier but, better together than alone.”

finally letting each other go, hansol and seungkwan bid their final goodbyes for the night and enter their respective apartments, anticipating the future days they would encounter together.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for taking time off your day to read this! your read is very much appreciated and do comment pls D: it will make me v v happy uwu


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